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RIO DE JANEIRO, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Construction work on Rio's Olympic Park has reached 99% completion as the city finalizes preparations for the first Olympic Games in South America.
Five of the nine venues at the park are ready: Arena Carioca 1 (basketball), Arena Carioca 2 (judo, wrestling), Arena Carioca 3 (taekwondo, fencing), Future Arena (handball) and the aquatic centre (swimming), Rio's city government said in a statement.
The announcement comes just six days before Rio begins its one-month countdown until the Olympic opening ceremony at the Maracana stadium.
Despite the advanced stage of construction at most venues, laborers are still completing work on the velodrome, a warmup pool at the Maria Lenk Aquatic center, two tennis courts and access ramps at Olympic Arena.
Media facilities and the Olympic Park hotel are ready.
A joint venture between the public and private sectors, Olympic Park has been built at a cost of 2.3 billion reais (around 710 million U.S. dollars).
The Olympic Games will be staged from August 5 to 21. They will be followed by the Paralympic Games from September 7 to 18.
